Fencepost seats

ABSTRACT

A seating system is disclosed for supporting a seat on fenceposts of a fenced in area such as a tennis court or playground. Hinge pin clamps of the type ordinarily used for mounting a gate on a fence are clamped to fenceposts. Brackets are provided that are entirely supported by the hinge pins in a manner providing support for a seating surface that is bolted to the brackets. A pair of brackets mount upon a single fencepost to support a seat for a single person. A pair of brackets mount upon two spaced apart fenceposts to support a long seat for many persons.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to seats on brackets and more particularly toseats entirely supported by brackets attached to fenceposts and to thebrackets supporting said seats.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Seats for spectators within the fenced-in areas of playgrounds, tenniscourts, and the like are easily damaged or stolen. Furthermore, they maybe moved onto the playing area causing damage to the surface andinterfering with the games. It is, therefor, desirable to provide seatsfor fenced in areas that overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To this end, it is an object of the invention to provide seats thatattach to the fenceposts of the fenced-in area, and that are not readilymoveable therefrom and that do not encroach upon play area.

It is another object of the invention to provide seats without supportstouching the ground to permit maintenance beneath the seats.

It is yet another object to provide seats that are supported by one ormore fenceposts.

It is yet another object to provide seats that are easy to install.

It is yet another object to provide seats that are inexpensive tomanufacture.

It is yet another object to provide seats that have no support legs tostumble over.

It is yet another object to provide seats that remain close to a fence.

It is yet another object to provide seats that support one or twooccupants and are supported by a single fencepost.

It is yet another object to provide seats that support multipleoccupants and are supported by two fenceposts.

It is yet another object to provide seats that have support bracketsthat store in a flat container for economical shipment and storage.

It is yet another object to provide seats that have a horizontal seatingsurface that is removable for storage when not in use.

It is yet another object to provide seats that have seat supportingbrackets with vertically spaced apart pin-receiving means for engagingthe pins of hinge pin brackets attached to the fencepost. The bracketshave a horizontal member extending out from the pin-receiving means uponwhich the horizontal seating surface element rests. The horizontalmember includes bolt receiving means to receive a bolt or pin securingthe seating surface element to the bracket. The brackets are arranged topermit two brackets to be supported by a single post with only two hingepin brackets, by aligning the pin engaging means coaxially and using asupport rod in conjunction with the hinge pins.

Additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will beunderstood from the following description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a seat in place on one fencepost.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation of a multi-person seat in place on a pair offenceposts.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view from underneath the seat of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of a pair of brackets of FIG. 1 lying in acommon plane and slightly apart to illustrate interdigitating ofengaging means.

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken on plane 5--5 of the left bracket ofFIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a side elevation detail of the support structure of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a cross section through a profile extrusion useful inmanufacturing one embodiment of the bracket.

FIG. 8 is a front elevational of a bracket made with the profileextrusion of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of a bracket with multiple boltengaging means.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A galvanized steel wire mesh fence surrounding a tennis court is usuallysupported by two and one half inch diameter galvanized steel pipesembedded in the ground (or concrete) and spaced ten feet apart. In FIG.1, one of these supporting pipes 1 is shown, sans wire mesh, with aflat, horizontal seat 6 supported by the two brackets 4 and 5 that aresecured to the pipe by the upper hinge pin clamp 2 and lower hinge pinclamp 3 that are clamped directly to pipe 1. The seat 6 may be a 2 inchthick wooden plank 12 inches wide and 32 inches long. Alternatively itmay be a padded seat of more sophisticated structure. Details are shownin FIGS. 3,4,5 and 6. Clamp 2 and 3 surround pipe 1 and are tightly heldby bolts 17. The brackets 4 and 5 (FIG. 4) are comprised ofsubstantially triangular aluminum plates 21 and 22 to which the aluminumcylinders 8,9,19 and 20 are welded at weld joints 14. These cylindershave an inner hole 15 to fit the hinge pin 18 of the hinge pin clamps.The hinge pin clamps may be any of the usual type that encircle the postand clamp tightly to the post such as by the bolt 17. They are generallyused to provide a vertical pin 18 parallel to the post upon which thehinge of a gate rotates. The cylinders 8 and 9 of the left bracket areengaged by the pins 18 of the hinge pin clamps 2 and 3 shown in detailin FIG. 6 wherein the pins and cylinders are shown in cross section. Agalvanized steel rod 23, of the same diameter as pins 18, extends fromwithin upper cylinder 8 to within lower cylinder 9 of bracket 4,maintaining its vertical position. It passes through the upper cylinder19 and the lower cylinder 20 of the bracket 5, thereby maintaining thevertical position of both brackets with only one pair of hinge pinclamps. Holding each bracket at top and bottom holds the seat 6 flatresisting the rotation forces (torque) about the upper cylinder whenforce is applied to the distal end of each bracket. The brackets 4 and 5have cylinders 10 welded to the third angle of the triangle. Thesecylinders have a hole to receive the seat bolt 7. The seat 6 may have acountersunk hole to receive the bolt 7 while providing a smooth seatingsurface. The brackets 4 and 5 extend out from the post at approximately90 degrees to each other. The bracket 4 of FIG. 4 shows an innertriangular space 16 within phantom lines. In alternative embodiment thisportion of the plate may be absent. The bracket then comprises avertical member 12, a horizontal member 11 and a diagonal number 13where the structural material of the bracket is most usefullyconcentrated. This might be cast or molded in one piece.

FIG. 2 shows the brackets 4 and 5 each supported on a separate post 1.This embodiment would be applied to seating a number of persons on thewide plank 6 which might be ten feet long. By positioning the bolts 7 ata distance apart that is different than the spacing between the poles,the seat is prevented from swiveling on the pins.

It may be desirable to make the seat 6 from a plurality of narrow planksrather than one wide plank to prevent warping and water accumulation.The bracket shown in FIG. 9 provides a plurality of bolt engagingelements 10 which may be used to secure 3 individual narrow planks tothe bracket to form a seat.

FIGS. 8 and 7 show how the bracket may be prepared from the profileextrusion shown in cross section in FIG. 7. A first portion is cut toform the horizontal member 11 of the bracket. A second portion is cut toform the diagonal member 13. A long bar 27 fits into holes 24 of bothcut portions and is crimped in place at crimps 26 to form the verticalmember 12. A short bar 28 fits into holes 25 of both cut portions and iscrimped in place at crimps 28 to produce a rigid bracket with pinreceiving elements 8 and 9 and bolt receiving elements 10.

The brackets may be formed of aluminum, steel or a suitable structurallystrong composition such as plastic.

The above disclosed invention has a number of particular features whichshould preferably be employed in combination although each is usefulseparately without departure from the scope of the invention. While Ihave shown and described the preferred embodiments of my invention, itwill be understood that the invention may be embodied otherwise than asherein specifically illustrated or described, and that certain changesin the form and arrangement of parts and the specific manner ofpracticing the invention may be made within the underlying idea orprinciples of the invention within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:
 1. Seat-supporting brackets for fencepost-supported seats heldin place by vertical support pins clamped to said fenceposts, saidbrackets comprising:(a) vertical member means including a fixed upper,pin-engaging means and a fixed lower, pin-engaging means for supportingsaid bracket on said fencepost by said vertical support pins clamped tosaid fencepost, said pin-engaging means directly connected to saidvertical member means; (b) horizontal member means fixedly connected, ata first end, to the upper end of said vertical member means andextending substantially horizontal therefrom, said horizontal membermeans including, at a second end, a vertical bolt engaging means, saidbolt engaging means for engaging bolt means holding a seating surfacemeans to said bracket and said horizontal member means providing abearing surface for said seating surface means to rest thereupon; (c)diagonal member means fixedly connecting the lower end of said verticalmember means to said second end of said horizontal member means tomaintain said horizontal member means and said seating surface means ina horizontal position under a seating load; said brackets including afirst bracket having said pin engaging means arranged on said verticalmember means so as to interdigitate with said pin engaging means on saidvertical member means of a second bracket, thereby aligning all four ofsaid pin-receiving holes with a common axis.
 2. The brackets of claim 1,including means for engaging said upper pin-receiving holes of saidfirst bracket by a first vertical support pin and means for engagingsaid lower pin-receiving holes of said first bracket by a secondvertical support pin and means for engaging, at the same time, saidupper and said lower pin-receiving holes by a connecting rod means andfurther including means for engaging said connecting rod means by bothupper and lower pin-receiving holes of said second bracket to supportboth said first bracket and said second bracket to a single fencepost bymeans of said first vertical support pin and said second verticalsupport pin; wherein said connecting rod means is of a length to extendfrom within said upper pin-receiving hole of said first bracket towithin said lower pin-receiving hole of said first bracket to providesupport for said second bracket therebetween, said connecting rod meanssharing said pin-receiving holes of said first bracket with saidvertical support pins.
 3. A pair of brackets for mounting a seat upon asingle fencepost by vertical pins attached to said fencepost,comprising:(a) a first bracket including two pin engaging means attachedto a first edge of said bracket for engaging two of said vertical pinswhen said pins are attached vertically spaced apart on said fencepost,thereby supporting said first bracket by said fencepost with said firstedge substantially vertical alongside said fencepost, and bolt engagingmeans attached to a second edge of said first bracket, wherein saidsecond edge is fixed substantially at right angles to said first edge,and extends substantially horizontal when said pins are engaged; (b) asecond bracket including two connecting rod engaging means attached to afirst edge of said bracket for engaging a connecting rod means when saidconnecting rod means is also engaged by both of said pin engaging meansof said first bracket while said first bracket is supported by saidvertical pins at said fencepost, thereby supporting said second bracketby said fencepost with said first edge substantially vertical, and boltengaging means attached to a second edge of said second bracket, whereinsaid second edge is fixed substantially at right angles to said firstedge, and extends substantially horizontal when said rod means isengaged; (c) wherein said second edges of both said brackets providesupport surfaces in a substantially horizontal common plane upon whichto rest a seating surface means and said bolt engaging means providingmeans for securing said seating surface means to said brackets by boltmeans, and each said pin engaging means of said first bracket provides apin-receiving hole arranged to engage both one of said vertical pins andsaid connecting rod means at the same time so that the vertical pinsthereby support said first bracket directly and said second bracketindirectly through the agency of said connecting rod means; wherein saidconnecting rod means is of a length to extend from within said upperpin-receiving hole to within said lower pinreceiving hole of said firstbracket to provide support for said second bracket therebetween, saidconnecting rod means thereby sharing said pin-receiving holes of saidfirst bracket with said vertical pins.
 4. The brackets of claim 3comprised substantially of profile extrusions fixedly joined together.5. The profile extrusions of claim 4 comprised substantially ofthermoplastic material.
 6. The profile extrusions of claim 4 comprisedsubstantially of aluminum alloy.